Sophomore goalie Jussi Olkinuora will get his sixth consecutive weekend-opening start Friday at Bemidji State and might also play Saturday in the series finale, DU coach George Gwozdecky said. Senior Adam Murray and junior Sam Brittain are also available. Murray is on the heels of overcoming yet another groin injury and Brittain is 0-3 in his last three starts (12 goals allowed). Olkinuora has been outstanding in his last three starts, going 0-1-2 but allowing just five goals.

DU, after a 9-1 start, is on a six-game winless drought (0-4-2). As captain Paul Phillips said, the Pioneers would probably be 0-6 if it weren’t for Olkinuora, the former walk-on who is on the verge of getting consecutive weekend starts. We had a nice feature planned on the Fine Finn Find for Friday’s paper, but it is now pegged to run on a good piece of real estate Monday.

Meanwhile, I caught up with freshman center Quentin Shore on Wednesday after practice, the first time I had a chance to ask him about last week’s rumor that had him defecting to Portland of the Western Hockey League and play with good buddy Seth Jones, his former U12 teammate in Denver and roommate at the U.S. National Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Q said he doesn’t know how the rumor started, but that The Hockey News guy that tweeted it nevertheless has a solid reputation. Q isn’t pointing fingers.

“I’m really happy where I am. I think we have a great team here, and I think our success has bonded through all four lines, and I’m just happy to be a part of one of then,” Q said. “I’m happy to be here right now and will continue my hockey career here.”

Q has three goals and seven points in 16 games. His two older brother, Drew and Nick, didn’t produce any better or any worse as 18-year-old DU freshmen. Drew had just five goals and 19 points in 41 games in 2009-10, and Nick amassed just seven goals and 18 points in 33 games in 2010-11.

Drew, of course, had sensational sophomore (23 goals) and junior (22 goals) seasons and Nick produced 13 goals as a sophomore and currently leads DU with 19 points (six goals).

Bottom line: Is Q struggling? Relatively speaking, no. He’s right on track to be as good as his older brothers. He’s the Pioneers’ third-line center who is getting some time on the power play and penalty kill. If anything, the rumor developed after some — perhaps even Q — began to wonder if the kid was better off developing in major-junior, after failing to be drafted by an NHL team last summer and not making the preliminary U.S. World Junior team roster. But Q remains eligible for the 2013 draft and to play in next year’s World Junior Championship.

Finally, Gwozdecky said sophomore forward Larkin Jacobson is scheduled to come off his second team-imposed suspension after Christmas, and sophomore defenseman Josiah Didier (high ankle sprain) could also return to the lineup Dec. 29 against visiting Boston University.

Sophomore wing Zac Larraza, who missed last week’s North Dakota trip with the flu, is back in business.

COLORADO SPRINGS — One of the most exciting hockey games I’ve ever seen, and surely some will say pretty sloppy. DU leads 6-2 early in the third period and hangs on to win 6-5, with a fight breaking out at the buzzer against the DU bench.

One-game suspensions have been handed down to Pioneers goalie Jussi Olkinuora (fighting) and Tigers center Rylan Schwartz (contact to head), and Scott Mayfield and Archie Skalbeck got double-minors for roughing.

Olkinuora was throwing punches with Tigers winger Alex Krushelnyski, after (I hear) Schwartz hacked someone over the head. Not really sure about that, but the box score says both he and DU’s No. 1A goalie won’t be allowed to play in Saturday’s series finale in Denver.

“I had a five-minute conversation with the refs and they didn’t say a word about (Schwartz’s suspension),” CC coach Scott Owens said. “Our concern was the extra players coming off Denver’s bench.”

I don’t think Owens is going to win that fight. The big scrum happened just after the whistle against the DU bench. The game was over and the Pioneers won. How do you penalize them if one or two came off the bench to “celebrate,” although I remember seeing a linesman instruct the entire bench to stay put.

Junior goalie Sam Brittain is scheduled to start for DU on Saturday, so Olkinuora’s suspension won’t affect the Pioneers. Schwartz is CC’s top center and best playmaker.

“That was a very important win for us. Ugly at times, but maybe that’s the way it should end,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said. “Huge battle in front of the net and a little ugly play along the wall.”

“I’m happy with the way we battled back and competed at the end. It was a wild game, a great spectator’s game and a great game to be apart of,” Owens said. “We just came on the short end of it.”

Our DU hockey/Colorado Thunderbirds story is being held for Friday, Nov. 16, to help advance the Gold Pan series (Denver at Colorado College Nov. 16; Colorado College at Denver Nov. 17). We will link that story here when it runs.

Here’s what we know. The Frank Serratore-founded Thunderbirds, who primarily operate out of Big Bear Ice Arena in Aurora, are producing Division I (and major-junior) talent throughout North America. The DU Pioneers have benefited the most, but Air Force is in the loop and CC is catching on. The following unedited information was provided by the Colorado Thunderbirds.

If you love hockey and can afford 11 minutes of your life, watch the video above and enjoy the best of Air Force coach Frank Serratore.

Hey, I’ve been doing this for 17-some years, covered the Stanley Cup Finals and three NCAA title-game runs, but nothing is more enjoyable than to talk to Frank over the phone or after a game. He has an analogy for everything, and they’re all beauties. He is so down to earth, always accommodating, always hilarious and never rude.

DU goalies Sam Brittain and Juho Olkinuora will trade starts in this weekend’s home-and-home Gold Pan series with Colorado College. Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky declined to identify Friday’s starter in Colorado Springs, but ruled out Adam Murray, who has another groin injury and is out indefinitely. Brittain (2-1, .922), a junior, and the sophomore Olkinuora (2-0, .943) are considered one of the country’s top goaltending tandems.

Meanwhile, sophomore forward Larkin Jacobson (team suspension) remains out indefinitely and freshman defenseman Nolan Zajac (lower-body injury) is probable Friday. Zajac, a super playmaker from the back end, missed Saturday’s 3-2 series-sweeping victory at Minnesota State for precautionary reasons. He is tied for third on the team with eight points (two goals).

Look for what is shaping up to be a big story in Friday’s paper and online about the DU recruiting pipeline from the Colorado Thunderbirds, the state’s top triple-A program. All seven of the DU players from Colorado are on scholarship and played for the T-Birds, and there is more on the way. CC is expecting three former T-Birds within the next two years, and there is more than 50 T-Birds alumni playing across North American in Division I, the Canadian Hockey League, Division III and junior-A.

The University of Denver hockey team hosted Air Force at Magness Arena Saturday night, October 20, 2012. Karl Gehring/ The Denver Post

Junior center Nick Shore had three goals and an assist Friday night in a 5-2 victory over Air Force at Magness Arena. On Dec. 31, Shore’s older brother, Drew Shore, had four points (two goals) in a 7-1 victory at Air Force. Drew Shore signed with the Florida Panthers in April, forgoing his senior year and the opportunity to play with Nick and Quentin Shore, a DU freshman center.

Nick didn’t immediately remember Drew’s four-point night last season. But after thinking about it, he said: “I guess I was trying to match it as much as I could.”

DU improved to 2-0; it beat a solid UMass-Lowell squad 5-1 on opening night Friday. “It’s obviously big for us to get the sweep this weekend,” Nick said. “It’s a great way to start off the year.”

This DU line chart has a 22-player, including three goalies — one more than the max for home teams. Thus, a non-goalie will get scratched. Word is it will be sophomore Zac Larraza (injury) or freshman Gabe Levin.

DU center Shawn Ostrow worked against River Hawk defenseman Chad Ruhwedel in the second period. The University of Denver hockey team hosted UMass Lowell at Magness Arena Friday, Oct. 19, 2012.

Good showing from the No. 7-ranked DU Pioneers in their home-opener Friday at Magness Arena. No. 10 Massachusetts-Lowell is a good team, but the Pioneers drew back-to-back penalties in the third period and scored twice, including a dandy from freshman defenseman Nolan Zajac on a 5-on-3 8:35 into the third period to make it 3-1. Defenseman David Makowski added a 5-on-4 power play and sophomore wing Danny Doremus scored his second goal of the game to turn it into a rout.

DU led 2-1 after two periods but was outplayed for much of the final 10 minutes in the middle frame.

“Overall good win against a team like UMass is huge. Pretty close game,” Doremus said. “They (got) within one goal and we came out strong in the third. It was just a big game for us, to start the season off good against such a strong team.”

As expected, junior goalie Sam Brittain will start the season-opener and the DU Pioneers will go with seven defensemen. Don’t have a UMass-Lowell line chart yet. Interesting to note that what figures to be DU’s top line, Nick Shore between Chris Knowlton and Ty Loney, are all right-handed shots.

Excited about hockey season, and excited about our DU story pegged for Thursday’s paper.

Freshman defenseman Nolan Zajac is the son of former Pioneer Tom Zajac (1973-76), but two of Nolan’s older brothers, Travis and Darcy, played at rival North Dakota, and a third brother, Kelly, concluded a four-year career at Union College last spring. Of course, Travis Zajac is a top-six forward for the New Jersey Devils.

I have so much good stuff, but not all of it will fit in the paper, so here’s some leftovers:

The Zajacs are from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and certainly all four boys had great opportunities to play in the Canadian Hockey League (major-junior). But Tom is thrilled to see all of them go to college.

“Hockey is a tough game to make it in. I think the boys, or girls, have to have something to fall back on,” he said. “I think the atmosphere of going to school and playing hockey for their school is something I wanted them to enjoy, just like I enjoyed.”

Tom said he didn’t encourage Nolan to choose DU. Rather, it was a coincidence.

“I left it up to Nolan, where he thought he fits in the best. I know when he went to visit DU he came back and said, ‘I don’t need to look at anyone else.'” North Dakota recruited Nolan, his father said, but his son never took an official visit to Grand Forks. “All of us just told him to make sure you go to a place you fit in and and a place you’re going to play.”

Nolan realizes he might catch some grief when DU visits UND for a series Dec. 7-8.

“Great place to play, good team, and it’s close to home, so I’ll have a lot of friends and family,” he said.

Because of next Tuesday’s presidential debate at Magness Arena, DU has evacuated its Murray Armstrong Hockey Complex (locker room, lounge, etc.) and is practicing at Joy Burns Arena on the Pioneers’ campus and using the Avalanche facility at Family Sports Center in Centennial.

The Secret Service owns Magness Arena right now, and will continue to do so until after the Pioneers’ Oct. 6 exhibition game against British Columbia at the Pepsi Center.

Meanwhile, the rebuilding Pioneers were picked to finish third by the media in the final year of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association as we know it.

The Atlantic Coast Conference, always playing the ugly step-sister to the queen bee SEC, is in the spotlight with only its ninth top 10 game in its history. With the addition of Notre Dame in all sports but football and hockey announced two weeks ago, this is a game that will push an ACC team into the national title picture. Florida State has a defense reminiscent of Bobby Bowden’s best, packed with future NFL talent. I want to see how that defense and GameDay-juiced crowd does in stopping quarterback Tajh Boyd and receiver Sammy Watkins. FSU QB E.J. Manuel is no slouch, either.

No. 2 Louisiana State (3-0) at Auburn (1-2), 5 p.m.

My blood lust for coaches on the hot seat has me intrigued with this one. Auburn coach Gene Chizik is two seasons removed from a national title and one missed Louisiana-Monroe field goal in overtime last week from possibly the first 0-3 start since the 1950 team went 0-10. A loss here will still give the Tigers their first three-loss September in school history. Chizik is on the hottest seat in the country. Getting drilled at Mississippi State, 28-10, started it but the narrow win over Louisiana-Monroe escalated it. Here’s why: Three straight top 15 recruiting classes had Auburn fans thinking consistency.

No. 18 Michigan (2-1) at No. 11 Notre Dame (3-0), 5:30 p.m.

Look out folks, but Notre Dame is on the verge of greatness again. If went on the road and destroyed a talented Michigan State team and now gets another match-up against quarterback Denard Robinson who led the Wolverines over the Irish the last two years. Remember how bad Notre Dame’s defense was under Charlie Weis? It’s one of the nation’s best now and Michigan is the first of four straight home games (although Miami, Fla., Oct. 6 is in Chicago). Notre Dame could become a player again.

Word out of Pittsburgh is the Pens have signed DU hockey player Beau Bennett to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Bennett missed most of last season with a wrist injury, but was a former first-round pick of the Pens.
His departure means the Pioneers now have lost Bennett, Drew Shore and Jason Zucker to the NHL since their season ended.

I watched with more than normal curiosity Tennessee’s game against Kansas Saturday. Pat Summitt looks worse than I thought. I’d read plenty about her early dementia, that she was no longer doing interviews but her presence on Tennessee’s bench is beyond sad.

She does virtually nothing. Holly Warlick, the Vols’ associate head coach, is doing all the coaching. She’s roaming the sideline, commandering the huddle, shouting at the refs. Summitt merely sits there, looking at the action.

Dementia is miserable. It’s sad. It’s sick. It’s undignified. Dementia is Alzheimer’s light. Alzheimer’s patients go steadily downhill, like a snowball down an incline. Dementia is a roller coaster. I know. My father had it.

He was fine in the morning but by noon he’d ask me the same questions he’d asked me the day before and the year before and the year before that: “What does your hockey writer do in the off season?” and “Do you ever watch that show where those sports columnists scream at each other?” One time at Christmas he turned to me and asked, “Who are you again and what are you doing here?”

I began answering him by rote. By evening he couldn’t comprehend a simple question.

Summitt, who is only in the early stages, is merely an inspiration to her players. That may be enough as they face unbeaten Baylor Monday for the trip to Denver. She’s shockingly brave for continuing her journey. But as a viewer, someone who’s watched her yell and cajole and lift her team to eight national titles, it’s sadly uncomfortable to watch. ESPN seems to feel the same way.

GREEN BAY, WIS. – Join me for a live chat of the Pioneers’ NCAA game with Ferris State. A couple of notes: Jason Zucker and Chris Knowlton will play for DU today. Beau Bennett will not.DU-FERRIS STATE HOCKEY

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Tough time coming up with a good lead here, after spending five-plus hours watching or writing about DU’s remarkable 4-3 double-overtime victory over Minnesota-Duluth. Not really. The story sells itself. I just put it out there: Goalie Sam Brittain makes a program-record 67 saves and freshman Zac Larraza gets his first career goal to cement the Pioneers’ dramatic win at college hockey’s best tournament.

I’m gassed. But not as tired as DU. Pios will play their sixth game in nine days Saturday, with a chance to increase their record Broadmoor Trophy titles to 16. Big-time heart shown by the Pios. Listen, they didn’t need to win this game — an at-large NCAA bid was all but assured — but played like their season was on the line in the OTs. Fifth-year senior and co-captain Dustin Jackson said the heart stems from how the Pioneers have approached the last four weeks of the season — playing desperate — and has just become their regular mindset. This team, although completely beat up — Pios are down to just five defensemen — could be super dangerous in the NCAAs. They are battle-tested and believe in each other.

If they can get Chris Knowlton and Beau Bennett back at forward, and perhaps David Makowksi on the point for the power play, look out. I have a bad feeling about Paul Phillips’ leg injury; the junior defenseman was hurt Thursday and did not play tonight. Otherwise, everyone happy in Pio-land.

ST. PAUL, MINN. — Done trying to figure out the PairWise Rankings and what it means to DU, but I’m told the Pios will at least get an at-large bid on Sunday and compete in its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament beginning next weekend at one of four regionals. At 7:35 p.m. CT, they were 10th in the PWR, which equates to a No. 3 seed. Don’t think the Pios care who they play. Confidence is high.

Because of Jason Zucker and Luke Salazar’s late-game heroics in today’s 3-2 OT victory over Michigan Tech, I didn’t write much on freshman wing Ty Loney, who I thought was the No. 1 star in the WCHA Final Five quarterfinals at the Xcel Energy Center. Loney had just one shot (goal) but added the game-tying assist and was plus-2 on the Drew Shore-centered line, with Salazar.

Loney, 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, is the son of two-time Stanley Cup winner Troy Loney, whom I met today upon entering the building. Ty Loney obviously has great genes and size for his age, but he was a healthy scratch in six of DU’s first 11 games this season. DU coach George Gwozdecky joked that he was so behind at the start of the season, he didn’t think young Ty, who turned 20 on March 1, “could keep up” in practice.

Loney has 10 goals and 20 points — a fine freshman season.

Also didn’t have room to give freshman goalie Juho Olkinuora the required love in Friday’s game story. He had 27 saves in a game that proves how much the program likes him — he started a tournament game with win-or-go-home stakes. “I felt good. It wasn’t one of my best games, I’d say. There was stuff that I could clean up,” Olkinuora said.

Sophomore Sam Brittain is expected to start in Friday’s semis against Minnesota-Duluth. He and “Jussi” have been rotating regularly and are undoubtedly a nice luxury. “Like I’ve said before, we boost each other and make each other better,” Olkinuora said.” Whoever is in net, you know there aren’t going to be any easy goals. I feel like it’s a good situation.”

DU junior defenseman Paul Phillips suffered a leg injury on his first or second shift and was getting an MRI performed after the game, in which he did not finish. If he can’t go Friday the Pios will be limited to five D — including freshmen Joey LaLeggia, Scott Mayfield and Josiah Didier. Seniors John Ryder and John Lee are playing mega minutes and the young guys are playing exceptionally well. Phillips also didn’t play most of Sunday’s game against Wisconsin, after getting banged up against the boards, so going with five D is nothing unusual for this group.

Also want to get some Jason Zucker stuff out of the way, even though it’s also in the game story.

“Certainly, he’s got a great release and scored a big goal for us today,” Gwozdecky said of the OT winner. “Jason and I had some discussions after the first period and after the second period, trying to analyze and help him get better in the game. I think he’d be the first to admit that he didn’t have a great game tonight . . . Certainly we’d like to be able to see him, along with some of his other teammates, play more of complete game (today).”

Finally, this from Salazar. The 5-foot-nothing, 155-pounder has scored a goal in his last three games, and has four in his last five. He has been a late-game hero in three consecutive 3-2 OT victories, scoring the third-period tying goal March 3 at UNO and the OT tally Sunday against Wisconsin.

“We’ve been down or tied in the third period the last few games and don’t want to change our game plan,” Salazar joked. “I’ve pretty much just been lucky.”

Really enjoyed covering the Pioneers the last three nights. Terrific hockey all three nights. Man, college hockey is a lot faster than when I was last a DU beat writer, back in the early ’90s. The quality of play was truly outstanding in this series, with the games as even as they could be. The Pioneers proved just a little bit better in the end, winning the series 2-1 on Luke Salazar’s overtime goal tonight. That’s him above.

My name is Adrian Dater, and I’m probably new to some of you young college-age readers. So let me start out by saying “I’m humbled to serve you.” I have really enjoyed covering some DU hockey this year, most especially tonight’s game with Wisconsin.

Not only was it a terrific hockey game, won by the Pioneers 3-1, but it was fun for me to do some reminiscing of just how special DU hockey used to mean to be as a younger guy.

Let me take you back to 1992, which I believe was the first year I started covering some Pioneers hockey for the Denver Post. Covering DU was my first “big-time” beat really, after starting off at the Denver Post just taking high school scores over the phone and typing in that data for boxscores in the next day’s paper.

After a while, the former sports editor at the Post, a great guy named Mike Connelly, gave me a chance to go out and cover a few Pioneers hockey games.

Kensler joined The Denver Post in 1989 and has covered a variety of beats, including Colorado, Colorado State, golf, Olympics and the Denver Broncos. His brush with greatness: losing in a two-on-two pickup basketball game at Ohio State against two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.